Sauna-installation



Dec. 4, 1962 E. RICHTER 3,066,668 SAUNA-INSTALLATION Filed Nov. 19, 1959 l? A. C

VENTOR.

United States Patent'() 3,066,668 SAUNA-INSTALLATION Eugen Richter, Messkirch, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, assignor to Helmut Fecht, Warren, Mich. Filed Nov. 19, 1959, Ser. No. 854,097 1 Claim. (Cl. 128-172) The type of hot air baths characterized by high temperature and low air humidity long known in Finland under the name of Sauna has now become popular in many countries, not only for the purpose of keeping the human body in good health, but for its therapeutic value so that its use is being increasingly extended to hospitals, sanatoriums and other institutions.

Up to now the construction of Sauna installations involved considerable technical effort and cost, such that relatively few people were able to utilize the bath installations so important for even apparently healthy persons.

This invention relates to the creation of a Sauna installation that can be constructed without great difficulty and is suitable for nearly every household. The invention furthermore relates to making the new Sauna installation easily serviceable and very effective.

A further aim of the invention consists in the improvement of the Home-Sauna, so that it may be used without danger and with great beneficial effect even by persons with grave asthmatic and heart complaints, or with considerable sensitivity to overheating.

Still further, the invention aims to create an electrically heated Sauna furnace, suitable for the aforementioned purposes, that is of simple construction and that effects an especially effective heating and circulation of hot air in the bath room.

The invention is described and illustrated, by Way of example, in the accompanying schematic drawing, wherein the bathroom for the Sauna is indicated merely by partition A, that can be readily built into any house, e.g., in a basement room. Within the bath room B, situated to the left of partition A, is an electrically heated Sauna furnace, while several pieces of apparatus associated with the functioning of the Sauna, are situated in the right hand outer room C.

The Sauna furnace has a support frame 2 standing on relatively high supports 1, and includes a ring plate 3. Placed upon this ring plate 3 is a housing in the form of a cylinder 4, such as of sheetmetal, topped by a partially perforated bonnet 5, such as of metal mesh, provided with a central opening 6.

Spaced within the housing 4 and supported by the ring plate 3 is a cylindrical inner housing 7 forming an annular outer vertical air chamber, said housing 7 being longitudinally slotted all around the lower portion at 8 and equipped with a ring-like partition 9 above the slots 8. Carried by this partition are vertical electrical heating elements 10 of any suitable kind around a cylindrical central air flue comprising lower and upper parts 11 and 12 by a transverse baflie 11. Each of the parts 11 and 12 have their walls slotted, as shown. The upper part 12 of the flue carries a container 13, filled with stones or other lumps of suitable material to operate as an evaporator when said material is wetted; this evaporator opens to the first described orifice 6 in the bonnet 5.

Extending upwardly from an air inlet duct 15 into the lower flue 11 is a slotted socket 14. An exhaust duct 17 penetrating the lower part of the partition A serves to exhaust used air from the bath room and may be connected, as at 16', with the duct 15. The two duets 15 and 17 may be controlled by means of gates 18 and 19.

The fresh air duct 15 is connected by a pipe line 20 to an oxygen cylinder 23 by way of a regulator 21 and the hose 22. The oxygen cylinder 23 is shown as equipped in the usual manner with a low pressure valve 24 and pressure indicators 25. The regulator 21 may be adjusted from outer room C or from bath room B by means of manual control members 26 and 27 (sketched only) and, in addition, is provided with a conventional timing regulator 28 connected through the means 29. The valve 21 would thus control the rate of flow' of oxygen into the air inlet duct 15, while the timing regulator 28 would limit the duration of such flow. The construction of such valve and timing devices is quite well known in many forms and is not a pertinent feature of this invention, so that further detailed description thereof is deemed unnecessary.

In operation, for the benefit of a bather in the room B, air to which a controlled proportion of pure oxygen is being admitted is drawn by the heat from the elements 10 in part upwardly through the member 14 to the lower air flue 11 where it is deflected from direct impingement with the bottom of the evaporator 13 by the partition 11'. This heated oxygen-fortified air escapes from the top of the furnace to the bath room although some of it passes into the upper air flue 12 to moderately heat the water in the evaporator 13, as will be obvious.

At the same time, some of the incoming air from the duct 15 passes through the openings 8 and escapes in a heated condition upwardly through the annular chambers formed by the walls 4 and 7.

In a Sauna installation according to this invention, air, which has been prefortified with pure oxygen, is circulated, admixed and heated within the furnace before 'being discharged to the upper area of the bathroom. When this air is humidified as it is projected upwardly from the furnace and eventually exhausted from the lower part of the bathroom, the bather is given the full benefit of its therapeutic properties.

With this installation, the heretofore customary heavy humidifying of the air is relatively unnecessary, so that only a small amount of water, which may contain desirable medically effective fluids or deodorants, may be evaporated from the container 13. Thus, the improved Sauna installation is well adapted for use by persons who feel that they cannot stand the customary high temperature atmosphere, which has been heretofore associated with Sauna installations.

The proper admission of pure oxygen to the air entering the furnace is especially beneficial as it facilitates breathing, improves perspiration and lends the installation to use by bathers who may suffer from heart complaints, breathing difficulties or be otherwise unable to withstand the effects of the atmosphere which has commonly been associated with Sauna installations.

The ability of the bather to regulate the admission of oxygen to the incoming air from within the bathroom B is a desirable feature, especially as an attendant may also set the valve 26 from outside of the bathroom to limit the extent to which such oxygen might be admitted and thus prevent the bather from exercising bad judgment as to the higher limit of oxygen mixture which may be desirable. The timing regulator 28 is also inaccessable to the occupant of the bathroom and, of course, determines the period of time during which oxygen is admitted into the incoming air.

I claim:

In a Sauna installation the combination comprising, a walled room, an upwardly discharging furnace located within said room and having an air inlet connected thereto and extending outwardly of the room a source of oxygen supply connected to said air inlet for admixture of oxygen with the air entering said furnace, means external to said room for controlling the duration of the admission of oxygen to said air inlet, said furnace includfrom within said intermediate cylinder, and an exhaust ing outer, inner and intermediate spaced concentric cylinduct extending from the lower portion of said room. ders, sald an inlet being connected to said inner cylinder, References Cited in the file of this patent the annular space between said inner and intermediate cylinders forming. a first flue and the annular space with- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS in the outer cylinder forming a second flue, said inner 1,224,130 Lake May 1, 1917 and intermediate cylinders having slots therein pr viding 199,235 Fenwn Apr, 30, 1940 communication between said fines, a heating mea s p 2,648,327 b n Aug. 11, 1953 tioned in the annular space between said inner and intermediate cylinders, an evaporator located above said in- 10 FOREIGN PATENTS ner cylinder and in the discharging path of heated air 1,087,597 France Aug. 25, 1954 

